A Revision of the Family Adelidae of the Western Hemisphere (Lepidoptera: Adeloidea)

The systematics, morphology, and distributions are reviewed for the New World Adelidae. Four genera (Ceromitia, 51 species; Nemophora, 1 species; Adela, 19 species; Cauchas, 16 species) are currently recognized for North, Central, and South America. Keys to all New World genera and species are provided, as are diagnoses, illustrations, and distributional data. The following species are described as new: Adela atrata, Adela austrina, Adela powelli, Adela stenoptera, Adela striata, Cauchas alaskae, Cauchas clarkei, Cauchas elongata, Cauchas excavata, Cauchas lobata, Cauchas recurvata, Cauchas spinulosa, Cauchas suffusa, Cauchas trifascia, Cauchas vittata, Cauchas wielgusi, Ceromitia aphyoda, Ceromitia barilochensis, Ceromitia beckeri, Ceromitia bicornuta, Ceromitia braziliensis, Ceromitia brevipectinella, Ceromitia capitanea, Ceromitia cerastia, Ceromitia concava, Ceromitia convexa, Ceromitia costaricaensis, Ceromitia elongata, Ceromitia exserta, Ceromitia fasciata, Ceromitia flagellata, Ceromitia furcata, Ceromitia fuscata, Ceromitia inaequalis, Ceromitia karsholti, Ceromitia latapicula, Ceromitia laticlavia, Ceromitia latibasis, Ceromitia latijuxta, Ceromitia lobata, Ceromitia nielseni, Ceromitia nigrifasciata, Ceromitia ovata, Ceromitia pachyphalla, Ceromitia pallidofascia, Ceromitia paraguayensis, Ceromitia parvipectena, Ceromitia petila, Ceromitia sinuata, Ceromitia truncata, Ceromitia unicornuta, and Ceromitia unipectinella.
The known world fauna of the monotrysian family Adelidae previously consisted of approximately five genera and 294 species (Nieukerken et al. 2011), occurring in all major geographical regions except Antarctica and New Zealand. Prior to this study, four of these genera, Adela (14 species), Cauchas (5 species), Ceromitia (15 species), and Nemophora (1 species), were known to occur in North and South America, totaling slightly less than 12% of the global diversity of the family. In this study, we are reporting 52 new species, most of which are (36 species) within the large pantropical genus Ceromitia. Additionally, we present gene trees for Adela, Cauchas, Ceromitia, and Nemophora and discuss their phylogenetic relationships. [Davis, Donald R., and Matthew J. Medeiros. A Revision of the Family Adelidae of the Western Hemisphere (Lepidoptera: Adeloidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 656, x + 215 pages, 400 figures, 34 maps, 1 table, 2023.]